Jennifer Lopez Reflects on How Selena Influenced Her Career

With the 20th anniversary of Selena’s death next week, Jennifer Lopez talked about the influence Selena had on her life in a recent interview with Billboard. Lopez said she credits her role as Selena in the 1997 biopic of the Tejano singer with inspiring her to launch a music career.

J.Lo said all the performances she filmed for the movie — including the scene of Selena’s last concert at the Astrodome, where 30,000 showed up to the set to recreate the real concert — helped her learn how to really “become a performer and give everything [she] had to the audience.”

“I sang in musicals before, but as part of a cast, never as a solo artist upfront or a recording ­artist. It made me realize, ‘Don’t neglect parts of yourself and let people put you in a box because you’re an actress,'” she told Billboard. “You can do this, and you can also do that. Life is short, and you don’t know what’s going to happen. Go for your dreams and don’t let anyone hold you back.”